Job 40:13 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. Hide them in the dust together - Blend the high and the low, the rich and the poor, in one common ruin. Show them that thou art supreme, and canst do whatsoever thou pleasest.

Bind their faces in secret - This seems to refer to the custom of preserving mummies: the whole body is wrapped round with strong swathings of linen or cotton cloth. Not only the limbs, but the very head, face, and all, are rolled round with strong filleting, so that not one feature can be seen, not even the protuberance of the nose. On the outside of these involutions a human face is ordinarily painted; but as to the real face itself, it is emphatically bound in secret, for those rollers are never intended to be removed.

Job 40:13

13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.